Apparatus for obtaining combustible gas.



G. CQNSTANTINESCU. APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING COMBUSTIBLE GAS.

l APPLICATION FILED FEB.26,1913. 1,1 1 1,995. Patented sept. 29, 1914.

\'|INESSES ATTORNEY GoGUooNsTANTINEscU, or Broca/,Isernia Lennon, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING COMBUSTIBLE Q'AS.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

- .Patented-Sept. .29, .1914.

Application lled February 26, 1918. Serial No. 750,715.

To all whom it may concern.' A

Be it known that I, GoeU CONSTAN, TrNnscU, a subject of the King of Roumania, and residing at 1L Hart street, Bloomsbury, London, YV. C., England, have invented a certain new and .useful Improved Appa ratus for Obtaining Combustible Gas, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an apparatus adapted to collect a part of the explosive gases under compression in the cylinders of an internal combustion en- Y gine, for the purpose of subsequently using these gases for illuminating or other 'purposes.

In application for British Letters Patent No. 261:61 of 1912, I have described a` method and apparatus for utilizing the pressure of the explosions in the cylinders of4 an internal combustion engine, for actuating a distributing device in such a Way that the explosion in one cylinder will open a port for compressed gas leading from another cylinder of the motor. In such apparatus, two cylinders at least are required, and the cranks must be suitably placed relatively to each other. l

The object of the resent invention is to collect the combustib e gases from an internal combustion' engine, having one or more cylinders, and the invention is applicable to motors having any number of cy inders.

According to the invention, I utilize the phenomenon that the .combustible .mixture used in internal combustion engines does notignite throughout the entirelength of a tube of small diameter, when a point of that tube is heated 'to a very high temperature. Thus, if a tube of suiiiciently small diameter be -filled with an explosive mixture of gasand air at any desired pressure, and if the mixture be ignited at one point in the tube by -means of an electric spark or other means,

. along it.`

- internal 'combustion engine into a reservoir.,

combustion commences to the right and left of the point of ignition, but the ame stops at a certain point, owing to thel fact that the heat generated by combustion is no longer suilicient to heat the successive gas layers to the temperature at which ignition takes place@ Thus, if the tube is maintained at a low temperature by any suitable means, .the ame cannot lbe propagated The inventionconsists in drawing o i combustible mixture from the cylinder of an through a long pipe of small diameter, pro-- videdat'its 'outlet with a non-return valve, kept on 1ts seat by a suitable pressure.

'lhe invention Vfurther consists in apparatus for drawing off a portion of the combustible gases from thefcylinders of internal combustion engines, comprising a long spiral tube of small diameter, fitted with anonreturn Valve at itsoutlet, and suitably 000186.' along its Whole length,

The invention further consists in provilingfin connection with such a device for removing a portion of the combustible mix ture a small reservoir provided with acock, said reservoir discharging into another reservoir of any desired capacity.

In. carrying Ltheinvention into effect, ac cording to a simple example, as applied to an engine with only one cylinder I connect to they cylinder of the engine a tube of very small interna-l diameter, say two millimeters, made voi. a material which is a good heat conductor, s0 as to rapidly dissipate heat tov the surrounding medium, as soon as a rise of temperature is produced in its interior. The end of the tube remote from the engine is lit-ted with a non-returnyalve, which will only allow a very small. iiowof gas to the outside when thev pressure of the gas in' the tube increases, and which will lclose completely7 when the outside pressure becomes greater lthan the pressure in the tube, The minimum length of thetube will depend on the -flow allowed through the non-return valve. or other cooling means may 'be provided to -coo'l the tube. h

. The operation of this apparatus isas fo1- lows:'-At the instant when the engine be`.

gins its suction stroke, a fall 'of pressure. is produced 'in the tube, and the gas contained therein is rarefied. During the compression Suitable water coolingstroke, the tube is, filled with unburned combust'ible gases, and at the momentl of explosion in the cylinder, the burned gases in the cylinder enter the tube. .and compress inJ front of them the combustible gases which loo have previously entered, but 'ignition of.

through the non-,return valve during the period of er'plosin in va cylinder.

n the exhaust taking place in the engine cylinder, the gases in the long tube expand,

of the continued rise and fall of pressure,`

a quantity ofgas will be delivered through the non-return. valve, which will be a mixture of unburned gas and a small quantity of products of combustion, which remain in the tube after each exhaust. By suitably reducing the delivery aperture of the non- -return valve, `the quantity of products of combustion inthe gas can bereduced to a minimum. The reservoir connected to the tube thus becomesgradually lled with explosive` mixture at a pressure increasing to v the maximum pressure in the. motor cylinder, during the firing stroke. The gases so collected may be used directly for lighting or other purposes, or they may be enriched by passing them through benzol, petrol 'or the like, or if desired7 a washing p cess may bekemployed before utilizing the gases. It will thus be understood that if the discharge pipe of the aforesaid reservoir has a cock, such as vwill permit of drawing from the reservoir only a quantity that is strictly limited by the length -and diameter of the tube, the gases which pass out of the reservoir Will-be the purer, i. e., more combustible, the smaller the delivery from thereservoir. The delivery from thel reservoir should therefore -be determined by experiment until the qualityI of the gases thus obtained is satisfactory.

Referring to the accompanying draw. ings-Figure 1 is a view partly in section, show-ing my improved apparatus as applied to a four-cylinder engine Fig. 2 being a -part section in a plane at right 'angles to In the form of the invention illustrated, four spiraLtubes, a b c d, are provided, each of which is in communication with a cylinder of the engine. The tubes are made of copper, and .I have found that suitable dimensions, `when applied to a four-cylinder 15 H. P. engine with `a. compression usual in petro engines are to make the tube of 3 millimeters diameter and of about four yards total 'length The tubes allA lead into a small reservoir e, which is made capable of withstanding the great pressure which would) result from an ignition of the mixture isn the reservoir at about 200 lbs. of

greater compression' pressure; and haying regard to the small size of thechamber e, suihcient strength is readily obtained, with.

-trolling the outlet from-said out undue weight. At the out-let from each tube there is provided a non-return valve f, in the form of a disk having apertures around its circumference. in a recess in the bottom of the chamber, and is pressed lightly on to its seat by means of a spiral spring g. The outlet from the reservoir e is controlled by a needle valve h, and the gases from the chamber e pass through this valve into a reservoir in which the pressure is reduced to say about lbs. From this reservoir the gas is passed to another reservoir at the pressure at which the mixed gases are to be used. A suitable petrol tank is provided, and the pipe leading from the regulator L leads the gases through the petrol in this tank, towash out any oil which maybe present.

In the above described apparatus I have found that a pressure of about 5d to 250 lbs. is suitable in the reservoir e, and this pressure can readily be kept sufficiently high at all loads of the engine by opening or closing the apertureleading from the reservoir by means ofthe valve L. When the engine is running at full load, the outfiow from the reservoir may be increased. On stoppage of the engine, the petrol from the washing tank flows back through the valve t, and fills the chamber e, and also leaks past the non-return valves f, completely filling up the tubes a, b, c, d, so that these tubes are washed out with petrol every time the engine stops, and the tubes are never allowed to become dry, so that foulin of the tubes is delayed for a considerable time. It will be understood that the communication between the engine and the ipe must be closed during the stopping of t e engine to prevent the petrol ioodin the cylinder of the engine. I find that su cient cooling of the spiral tubes is obtained simply by the air current past them, and water cooling is not required. Y,

The operation of this apparatus is similar to that above described, and the dimensions given will be suitable for any engine in which the same pressures of compression before ignition and explosion pressure are employed.

Having now described my` invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Apparatus for drawing off combustible mixture from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, comprising in combination a long'pip'e of small diameter in constantly open communication with the combustion chamber, a small reservoir communicating with said pipe, and a non-return valveconreservoir, asset forth.

2. Apparatus for drawing off combustible mixture from a cylinder of an internal com- The disk slides pipe into said bustion engine, comprising in combination a long pipe of small diameter in constantly open communication with the combustion chamber, a small reservoir communicating with said pipe, a non-return valve controlling'the outlet from said pipe into said reservoir, and means for controlling the outlet from said reservoir, as set forth.

3. Apparatus for drawing oi combustible mixture from a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, comprising inv combination a long spiral pipe of small diameter in constantly open communication with the combustlon chamber, a small reservolr communicating with said pipe, and a non-return '1 valve controlling the outlet from said pipe into said reservoir, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my neme to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses. GOGU CONSTANTINESCU. Witnesses:

BERTRAM H. MATTHEWS, WALTER J. SKERTEN. 

